The appeal is being set up to help those affected by Typhoon Ketsana, which hit the Philippines and parts of Vietnam, and those left coping in the wake of huge earthquakes which struck western Sumatra in Indonesia.

News of the appeal came as the Indonesian government revised earlier figures and said 609 people were confirmed dead – the final death toll from the 7.6 magnitude quake was expected to rise to more than a thousand.

According to the National Disaster Management Agency, 83,712 houses, 200 public buildings and 285 schools were destroyed. Another 100,000 buildings and 20 miles of road were badly damaged and five bridges had collapsed.

The earthquake was not the only disaster to hit the region last week.

Floods crushed homes in Cambodia and Vietnam and submerged much of the Philippine capital, Manila, where more than 330 people died.

Brendan Gormley, the DEC chief executive, said: "The nature of these disasters vividly recalls the horrors of the 2004 tsunami. Millions have seen the world they know ripped apart around them.

"DEC member agencies are already responding despite the appalling conditions on the ground, but we urgently need the public's help to fund their work.

"We recognise that these are difficult and uncertain times for many people in the UK too, but we have no doubt that there will still be a strong desire to help."

Donations can be made by ringing 0370 60 60 900 or visiting www.dec.org.uk.

Meanwhile the British Red Cross also launched its own appeal to specifically help victims of the tsunami which struck Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga last Tuesday, killing 177 people.

"Thousands of people have lost their homes and livelihoods," said Rosemarie North of the International Federation of the Red Cross. "Nearly a week on from the disaster and there is still devastation everywhere.

"I have met so many people who have lost members of their families and hundreds have fled to the hills, scared to return and be near the ocean."

More than 30,000 people have been affected by the tsunami.

The Red Cross has been providing food, water, blankets, cooking pots and tarpaulins and is now looking to ensure a safe water supply and reconnect families who have been separated.

In Samoa the death toll has been put at 136 while 32 people were killed in American Samoa and nine in nearby Tonga.